London’s Portobello Road, famous for its shops and outdoor market, is the setting for Rendell’s latest novel of suspense. A group of mismatched characters encounter each other and, as always, Rendell gradually increases the level of tension and anxiety. A master at suspense and characterization.
Also pictured: a couple of other PAGETURNERS favorites.
Old families and old money: the themes of Auchincloss’s fiction and non-fiction. This posthumously published memoir is not a chronology but a series of essays describing people, places, and events that were formative in his youth. An engaging look at high society from one of its members.
One Halloween night, 16 year old Nora disappeared. The boys she left behind never stopped thinking about her; years later, in a collective voice, they speculate about what happened and in doing so tell their own stories.
Kenya, 1961: a young woman finds mystery, action, and murder when she joins an elite archaeological team run by an aristocratic woman and her two sons. (They are based loosely on the famous Leakey family.) Evocative descriptions of the exotic setting.
Fish, a New York Times columnist and a college professor, discusses the sentence in terms of form and content; analyzes sentence creation; includes many quotes and famous first and last lines . Far from being a dry text, the book is filled with beautiful sentences. For all who love language.
In rural Mississippi, a friendship developed between two young men of different races. One stayed and became a troubled outcast; one left and eventually returned as town constable. A mystery keeps the pages turning, but it’s the moody atmosphere and lovely writing that are most memorable.
Try his earlier HELL AT THE BREECH, a fictional account of a true incident, another wonderful story.
Guy lives alone on his old boat and grieves for the family he lost five years ago. He has kept a diary all this time: it is really fiction, as he imagines the life that might have been. Eventually, Guy heads out into the North Sea and into a ferocious ocean storm. Dark, moody and intricate, this is strong literary fiction.
The inspector is an overweight and sweaty policeman in Singapore. His superiors wish he’d take early retirement, but he’s not going anywhere…except to Kuala Lumpur, where he is sent to investigate the case of a former model accused of killing her ex-husband. A strong start for a planned new series.
